Welcome to another edition of Predicting the Plot wherein I try my best to guess how an upcoming movie is going to play out from start to finish with as many details as I can possibly give, based entirely on the previews and lead-up material I've seen.
I might be dead wrong. I may get some things right. In any way, I encourage you to give your predictions just the same in the comments below.
For this edition, I'll be taking focusing on my theory of what we're in store for with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
NOTE #1: It's important to state that this is not what I would do for the film, but what I think they've done in making the movie. I likely would have gone with some entirely different plot points, if not a wholly different film in general.
NOTE #2: I have stayed away from any spoilers. I won't be reading any comments, either, until after I've seen the movie.
The movie opens with Shuri as an ambassador for Wakanda currently in America, looking into Riri Williams (Ironheart) who is part of some scholarship program or whatever. This outreach idea that the first film ended with has been one of Shuri's primary focuses in the past few years (minus The Blip and everything surrounding that.)
Then, there is an attack on Wakanda from Atlantis. T'challa is killed in the battle. Shuri must return home to mourn and weigh in on the kingdom's status.
Mourning is simultaneously happening as they are deliberating what to do with this conflict and the lack of a Black Panther and king. Shuri is thrust into the role, despite not being capable of juggling either of them at the same time. I think it's a bit of a stretch for us to just assume Shuri's become a fantastic warrior and her whole character of "the smart one" has changed since we last saw her. She can be the queen of Wakanda, but I don't think her character can juggle that responsibility, being the smart one AND being the fighter in the costume. That's absurd.
Maybe there's a change to how things are done. Instead of one person taking on this responsibility, there can be a sort of committee. Okoye is the leader of the military force. M'Baku can don the Black Panther armor as its superhero protector representative. Nakia can be one of the governing leaders.
I struggle to think of how they might introduce someone like Kevin Cole as a new Black Panther, for instance, or how they can age up a child of T'challa to take on that role or anything of that sort, but maybe I'm missing some part of the plot that makes this all make sense.
Anyway, the Atlantis attack has Everett Ross talking about the feud between the kingdoms. Someone needs to settle this conflict.
This whole war has been orchestrated by Attuma. Namor has been falling for his influence this whole time and is a villain who sees the error of his ways and eventually sides with Wakanda to fight Attuma, ending the movie as an antihero, in a sense.
Adjustment Note: About 10 minutes after publishing, I did think of something that may put a wrinkle on this. M'Baku wasn't a worshiper of Bast. Maybe he can't necessarily become Black Panther. Instead, maybe he is the king of Wakanda, and they really are going to just go with Shuri as Black Panther. While that's a stretch that she somehow becomes a fighter, it at least keeps the BP name within the family, and since Riri Williams is being introduced, she'll be a replacement of the "super intelligent young black girl" role that Shuri was filling. I'm starting to think this is actually what they'll do, rather than my suggestion above.
THE ORIGINAL IDEA:
What I assume we were originally going to get is similar in some respects, but also quite different in others.
The movie would have been largely about the differences between how T'challa rules Wakanda as its fighter/protector and king, versus Namor doing the same for Atlantis. I still think Attuma would have been the main villain they would team up to fight, and I still think it would be Wakanda vs. Atlantis for the most part.
Shuri probably would have only ever really dealt with Riri Williams and not had as much focus on her.
M'Baku and Okoye would just be on the warrior side of things in the fight against Atlantis.
The movie likely still would have ended with a truce between Wakanda and Atlantis, wherein we'd find out that Doctor Doom was orchestrating even Attuma as the bigger villain behind the plot, trying to get reserves of Vibranium and whatever Atlantis has to offer.
Until we get some teaser or trailer that can show us more, that's what I'm working with. When that happens, maybe I'll update this post with some new theories and a Take 2 prediction.
That's what I'm expecting to happen, but what do you think?
Give your predictions and thoughts on my guesses in the comments below!
